Does God use His children where they are, or does He call them to go. Both, to a degree, but both I believe are left to the discretion of each individual, our Lord may prompt us in many different ways, but we are a stiff-necked and willful people, we believe we know better than Him where we can serve best.
We are where we are many times because that is where we want to be, family, friends, our jobs, it’s where we grew up at, the reasons are endless. God calls us to go, but many refuse that call, the security of the known outweighs the prompting of the Holy Spirit, many men who call themselves Christians have accepted the position of leadership in a cage, instead of a small role in the service of the Lord. Our Lord uses many different methods to get His point across, sickness, loss of possessions, loss of loved ones, (“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” Isaiah 45:7) but still we will not heed the call, we believe we are valuable to His service, roaming around the same old neighborhood, knowing full well those whom we have spoken to in the past know our well-worn stories, but still hoping that perhaps someday they will listen, asking the Lord to use us when we have quite clearly heard His call to go, but disavowing that call for fear of the loss of things we call security.
Very few people who call themselves Christians are truly born-again believers, those movies you have seen, the books you have read, nearly all of them are incorrect, the faithful will be raptured, (1 Thess. 4:17) those who profess Him with their lips will be left behind, (Matt. 15:8) and they will be sent a strong delusion (2 Thess. 2:11) they will still believe themselves to be Christians, and the unexplained disappearance of some will be easily dismissed by some form of a rare occurrence. They will still be secure in their false ideology, but they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Here then is the topic of this letter to you today then, are you where God wants you to be, or are you where you want to be.
There are many Christians who believe the words of Scripture, who are obedient to the Word of God to go into all the world, to preach the good news to all they meet, to inform them of the consequences that are in store for them if they do not surrender to Christ, but there are far more who profess His name only with their lips, who have found a place on this planet they actually call home, who would not leave the geographical location they have become accustomed to for any reason, telling Christ that if He wants to use them, this is where you will have to use me, because I am not leaving. Does God use His children where they are, or does He call them to go.
Can you see the difference now, can you see the stubborn individual who says to Almighty God, “Here and no place else, here is where I will serve, but I will not be moved from here.” Profitable servants are only profitable when they do as they are commanded; they are unprofitable if they possess any form of self will that deviates from those commandments. It is a rare individual that knows for a fact that he is exactly where his Lord wants him to be, only those who would desire to be “Be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” (Col. 1:9) can know the surety of the path they are on, that they are pleasing to the Lord. Jesus did not tell His disciples, “Now go back home, stay by your family and friends, thrive in your community and know the surety of sameness.” He said “Go.” The same location, the same view, watching your friend’s children’s children grow up, watching as the old is replaced with the new, claiming you are saved but never stepping out into the world to proclaim His name.
Instead these individuals generally continue to serve in the same church decade after decade, surrounding themselves at best with friends they believe they can trust, finding comfort in the known, in the world, not even bothering to speak to those they have known for years about the Lord any longer, they know the answer they will receive. The well-worn paths are the most comfortable, you do not need to look at the world from the rut. Initial exuberance can turn to apathy very quickly, and apathy leads almost always to false contentment. The sense of the known is a powerful draw, for many who claim Christ as Lord it will be their downfall, they say they will follow Christ, but they put stipulations on that statement, “As long as I do not have to leave this area.” They will hear the words of Mark 16:15, telling them to go into all the world, but they see the world as that area that only encompasses the place they call home. They serve little if at all, yet expect to bear the name Christian.
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (1 Cor. 11:30) “How about this God, how about I just get comfortable right here, keep all my friends and family around me, grow my life in these few square areas of your creation, get comfortable and make a life for myself here, and you just go right ahead and use me here, this is my home and I really don’t want to leave.” Get the point now, just sing the songs about following Christ, just listen to the words about going into all the world, but don’t actually do it, just go back home and stay comfortable, stay safe, stay secure. Almighty God could destroy their house every other year, and the years in between they would just build a new one, He could bring sickness, famine, plagues, and they would just hunker down and continuously refuse to obey. And so then one day He will give them what they want, He will allow them to remain unprofitable, to continue to feel as if they are saved while showing absolutely no fruits of the Spirit whatsoever. (Gal. 5:22-23)
Some will be saved, but only as if by fire, (1 Cor. 3:15) no rewards, no treasures, no gifts for their Master, others will remain in a state of self-deception, remaining steadfast in their belief that they are saved with no proof of their salvation. You do not have to do anything you do not want to do, that is called free will, it is a gift from God to every living soul created, His obedient servants though have given it back to their Lord and Master, they do not just mouth the words “Not my will, but thine,” they live them.
